Current Rap Culture... Distructive?

First I want to say that I am not against Rap music. I listen to it on occasion, and like some of it (although it is not my normal "soundtrack to life"). These are just some observations.

First let's look at what is talked about.

1) Money-nothing wrong there, but these guys are ALL New Money. When they talk about it, they talk about being stupid with it. No one who's rich stays rich by blowing all their money on dumb things like cars, jewelry, or huge houses. But investment plans and business ventures don't make good lyrics

2) Sex- again, nothing wrong with sex either.
a) Part of it is ONLY about sex, not a relationship, and no caring at ALL.
b) The other part DOES involve a relationship. BUT I'd say 50% of this part has to do with taking a girl who is already IN a relationship with someone else. "I can love you better." So it comes down to cheating or stealing them from another.

3) Drugs- hmm, can't say that there is nothing wrong here. If you do drugs....SHUT UP. Don't advertise that you are doing something illegal. If you do drugs, probably nothing will happen to you, NOTHING. There is no way to succeed and do drugs at the same time.

4)Being tough/Killing people-OK, now here is where it gets really stupid. I'd say the majority have this topic in them at least in part. What does it really say that you are tough, or you know how to pull a trigger. The ones who think that this false bravado will lead to any sort of success, they are sadly mistaken. Who cares anyway? And also, killing people is NOT, I repeat NOT cool in any way. I don't care if he was workin' your corner, or disrespecting you. That is not worth jail.


A couple of quick notes

-Jail is not cool. Being in jail is also NOT the fault of any establishment. This culture really seems to think that if someone goes to jail, then hey, let's get mad at the police, or maybe the government, ANYONE but the one who BROKE THE DAMN LAW.

-If you have kids, DAMN, do NOT listen to this crap in front of them. I am 26, and can properly dissect and process the ideas thrown at me. Children can't. It is even more important if you are a single parent. Children look for discipline and structure. If they are not taught, they seek it out. Culture is unfortunately the catch all. There is so much, that they will soak it up without the proper filters that can only be there with parenting, or an extremely powerful mind.

-The above sort of thinking is severely delusional. These things are not important, although a lot of people in this culture seem to think they are.....sad really.

-No matter what you think, trying to have sex with every hot woman or man in the world will do nothing but make you look more. If you want a relationship with a person you can be sure WANTS to be with you. Withhold sex for a bit, it will weed out the bedhunters.

-The culture is not a racial thing. This all affects blacks, whites, Hispanics, Asians, etc.

no differnece between violence, drugs, etc in music or films.... tat why they are rated or have parnental guidence stickers on the front of cd covers....

go listen to some 'grown up' hiphop.....

which artists are you refering to by grown up hip hop ?

I hate rap music, give me jazz, or some '20's music anyday.

The only really bad thing I see stemming from Rap music is it gives Bill O'Reilly something to talk about.

Cha ching. He's 'looking out for me' about as much as WalMart, McDonalds and George W Bush are 'on my side.'

pff there quite some, like the new atmosphere, aesop rock, check some anticon label releases or rhyme sayers entertainment releases..theres a lott of good stuff, just stay away from the guntotin # talking commercial #ttt

Remember old school rap ? it was all about dancing and partying and who's the best DJ. There was also the political side of it with Public Enemy.

I really liked RUN DMC, L LCool J, Salt-N-Pepa, Grand Master Flash, Kool Moe Dee, etc...

Then NWA came along.

And the whole rap scene turned to gangsta rapping...most of it is pathetic!!!

well nwa were still kinda ok, it was when master p and them fools came along that it really became worst and worst ..indeed old-school is mad dope but theres also good new stuff..but heck, if people buy this # then let em. i dont think it will destroy the culture...its just a nasty sideway, like we have in almost every musical stream

That's what I'm talking about..."gangsta rapping". That is the dumbest stuff I have ever heard!

and then i thought, doesnt it show american culture at its best, the rap KrazyJethro is talking about..i hear more of the same on this forum

I'm sure to get some flames here but so be it~

Media inspires many (but not necessarily all) people to behave a certain way - regardless of the art form but most influential is mixed media involving the aural as well as the visual - ie.: TV & movies, and to a lesser degree aural (audio) media on it's own.
You see an commercial on TV and suddenly something you see appeals to you and you buy it.

You see a movie and think "hey that movie star looks, behaves, etc cool!" ie.: Neo in Matrix, Snoop Dog or 50 cent in a movie or music video, Arnold the Govenator, John Wayne, Clint Eastwood for the older crowd, ( Hasta La Vista... Baby" or "go ahead, make my day") etc. There may be a cool line from the movie that's picked up on by the viewer or the look, clothes, attitude that is assimilated into the viewers style if the viewer finds it appealing...

Along similar lines is attitude toward women (certain segments of hip-hop culture treat women like whores or a bouncing boob sex object) or attitude toward others in the form of violence and pride (I'm gonna cap yer azz wit mah nine, biyatch) etc.

So to a certain degree I firmly believe that media, and therefore some Rap can influence people in both negative and positive ways.

Guys, don't call your girlfriend a "ho" or "your b*tch" and you'll probably get a lot more from the relationship~ (that is unless she IS a ho... and then what does that say about your flawed selection process)

Ok, I'm done - flame away~


[Edited on 17-12-2003 by intelgurl]

hi intelgurl, nice comments, nothing to flame about..i think the use of bad wors for instance to describe women is done in more kinds of music then only rap..The words do also not really tell how they in real life act :]]..like more men tend to use vulgair language but are the most nice guys around, specially towards there girlfriends...and the other way around its the same, nice talking people are not always nice..
If people believe in themself then there is no one going to do like they show in movies, tv or music..but not everybody is like that i know. Like in the videogame tread, ofcourse things in music do influence people but then i say, everything does....pz, joz

Originally posted by intelgurl
I'm sure to get some flames here but so be it~

Media inspires many (but not necessarily all) people to behave a certain way - regardless of the art form but most influential is mixed media involving the aural as well as the visual - ie.: TV & movies, and to a lesser degree aural (audio) media on it's own.
You see an commercial on TV and suddenly something you see appeals to you and you buy it.

You see a movie and think "hey that movie star looks, behaves, etc cool!" ie.: Neo in Matrix, Snoop Dog or 50 cent in a movie or music video, Arnold the Govenator, John Wayne, Clint Eastwood for the older crowd, ( Hasta La Vista... Baby" or "go ahead, make my day") etc. There may be a cool line from the movie that's picked up on by the viewer or the look, clothes, attitude that is assimilated into the viewers style if the viewer finds it appealing...

Along similar lines is attitude toward women (certain segments of hip-hop culture treat women like whores or a bouncing boob sex object) or attitude toward others in the form of violence and pride (I'm gonna cap yer azz wit mah nine, biyatch) etc.

So to a certain degree I firmly believe that media, and therefore some Rap can influence people in both negative and positive ways.

Guys, don't call your girlfriend a "ho" or "your b*tch" and you'll probably get a lot more from the relationship~ (that is unless she IS a ho... and then what does that say about your flawed selection process)

Ok, I'm done - flame away~

[Edited on 17-12-2003 by intelgurl]

Ustan uil dost, Intelgurl. You have my respect. I agree- gangsta rap, and all the pop crap that the radios play isn't helpign anyone. It's glorifying a terrible lifestyle. Urban violence isn't cool. Gangs are becoming a major problem in some big cities, and some gangsta rap glorifies them.

What really kills me is hip hop (at least the stuff I hear). My roomate listens to it, and most of what it's about seems to be bedding the girl, or stealign her from someone else. Now, there's nothing wrong with sex. However, hip hop does in some ways treat women as a sex object. All that is offered to these women is a good time and money.

I don't think that is the kind of thing we should be teaching our kids. It's self destructive, in a way. If I had slept in the last two days, i would be slightly more coherent. Therefore, I apologize in advance.

DE

i never really agreed with alot of what rappers have to say on ablum but it made for pretty good stuff to listen to when i was pissed off or high.

although i'm not into it as much as i used to be since nowadays i'm not as pissed off with the world or much of a stoner for that matter. old skool hip hop still kicks a$$ in my book though.

[Edited on 17-12-2003 by mutehalo]

These kind of threads make me realize how naive most people really are. Even if you don't listen to rap, you should understand that 90% of rap on mtv/bet is commercially endorsed, they are the ones who are in the industry for the money alone. It's like that because the majority of people who listen to rap anymore are white kids from the suburbs and they want to be something they're not.

Listen to some hip hop from people who do it because the love what the do and love to spread their knowledge to other people. Listen to Common Sense, Talib Kweli, Aesop Rock, Cannibal Ox, Saul Williams, Sage Fransis, etc, etc, etc.

And for the so called "ganster" rap. It's pretty much nonexistant. If you're talking about battling, as in the "8 Mile" movie, that is a very far stretch to ganster rap. Battle Rap is using clever word play, metaphors, similies, punches, and it's mostly degrading. Which is why people who don't understand where it's coming from take it so offensively. When in reality battle rapping is a very creative art form.

It's the people who listen to Nelly, Ja Rule, Big Tymers, etc. are the ones who degrade the essence of what hip hop should be.

[Edited on 18-12-2003 by JStormz]

I totally agree with Jstormz. But, hiphop isn't bad or good for a society. It's only a reflection of the artist. Lil Wayne isn't going to rap about anything conscious or deep, can't expect that from him or 50 or Eminem.

I abandoned commercial hiphop a few years ago. I listen to the underground and old school. I still bump NWA, old Tooshort, and Dj Quik, that's just the music I grew up on. Gangsta rap didn't effect me in a negative way, but it wasn't as bad as it is now. Back in the day MTV refused to play rap...when they did it was the dressed up shiny kind. Now, it's the completely vulgar and lude kind. They went from one extreme to the other.

on a side note:
Aesop is dope...I wasn't feeling Bazooka Tooth as much as Labor Days...but he still has some of the illest lyrics ever written. He's mandatory...I'm actually quoting him in my sig. That's classic Aesop.

Yeah, there's two sides to hip-hop, the ugly, commercial side, and the 'true', more underground scene. It's the former that this thread should be aimed at, true hip-hop is all about talent and a love of music

When the boys are into skin we turn on BET man!

One thing about rap is that it can be used in lots of different music genres. I've heard rap in reggae roots, dancehall, rock, soca, zouk, jazz, 2step, salsa, merengue, house, trance etc...

Rap in zouk is especially sweet to listen to. (but sometimes it's in french or portuguese).

Here's an example:
www.kaysha.com...